New bill on port sale will delay development

I just learned that state Rep. Ken Hodges introduced a bill (HB4919) to suspend the sale of the Port of Port Royal. This causes me to shake my head and wonder where he has been for the past nine years. I wrote to him asking why, after all these years, he wants to derail the sale.

The surest way to stall things for another five years or more is to assign some government bureaucrats to study an issue. Besides, the South Carolina State Ports Authority has already prepared a site plan for the development of the site.

The SPA plan and a similar plan prepared by the town of Port Royal were merged into the plan that has been made public for at least five or six years. If he would acquaint himself with this plan he would discover it includes substantially all the uses that he desires. There are provisions for public parks, a marina, public access to the water all along the shore and commercial/residential space.

Derailing the port sale not only deprives the state receiving millions of dollars from the sale, but also begs the question of where the state would get the money to develop the port.

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